Thursday, May 31, 2012

When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed]

Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it.

Basically, as you run, jump and shoot, you gain experience points and level up. Hitting Space brings you into an interface where you can convert your experience points into Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity points. Once you've "specialized" your points, you then get to pick what exact skills you'd like to enhance in each field. For example, you could use your dexterity to enhance your weapons or increase your swiftness.

The game is played in a huge maze; you go through rooms using doors, and there's a large map. As the name implies, there are quests you can take, too. For example, one quest had me searching all over the place for ten balloons.

The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly deep game that just might ensnare you for a good bit longer than you intended to play. Beware!

We've seen lots of the rumored iPhone 5's body by now, and now the front cover has been acquired and squared up against the iPhone 4S. The new FaceTime camera position lines up just fine with what we were seeing on the chassis, and when put on top of an iPhone we're all familiar with, we get a good sense of just how much bigger the iPhone 5 will be.

The new iPad 3‘s retina display has caused a real stir amongst those anxiously awaiting the new tablet PC. The Retina display features the best display ever available on a mobile device. Many consider the upgraded display the single biggest selling point when moving from the iPad 2 to the new model. Apple definitely feel this way as they made the new display the subject for the first commercial for the new iPad 3. All this has probably left you [...]

It looks like webOS isn't going quietly into the mobile OS retirement home. While its journey to open-source continues, an eager cabal of developers, fans and designers have decided to reignite the ill-fated operating system under the banner of Phoenix International Communications. Focusing its efforts on transporting open webOS to existing devices, both HP-made and otherwise, Phoenix also wants throw in some new features and fixes -- presumably throwing in some extra software gems and UI tweaks. If it all goes to plan, the organization even wants to bring new webOS devices to market -- a heady dream, but you've got to admire their pluck. Any webOS devotees out there can pledge their allegiance (and assistance) to the cause at the source below.

Yep, you get a big, abstract splotch of light on a reddish-brown background. Or that's what you get if you're taking a picture of trees, at least. And it's actually pretty interesting. Appleogen documented the entire progression in 18 steps, which is as cool, if not cooler than the end result itself. The question is, do you have the time/mental fortitude to make your own? [Appleogen via DesignTaxi via The Atlantic] More »

It's been an eventful year already here in the Linux blogosphere, but it seems fair to say few events have drawn as much attention as the Oracle v. Google trial. Bloggers have been discussing it for weeks already, of course, but developments last week brought forth nothing less than dancing in the streets of the Linux blogosphere.

When I was a baby boy who thought the Earth was flat, I wrongly assumed the Redskins and Bullets were from the state of Washington and not DC. When the truth was revealed to me, I felt horrible for the state. They were bigger! They were on the best coast! How could they get punked? How is there a Washington University in St. Louis? Yeah I know, G-dub and all but a Miami in Ohio? A California University in Pennsylvania? Stop confusing me! Or maybe I should stop confusing myself and build a luminescent 4D puzzle of Washington DC for $30 and memorize the map instead. -CC More »

Anyone can use a mirror to snag a reflection. But every day, there are reflections going on around us, totally unnoticed. For this week's Shooting Challenge, capture one—without a mirror or glass globe, and no self-portraits! More »

What is a DJ? Everyone who considers him or herself one can probably give you a unique answer. Is everyone with a music collection and a sense for good timing a DJ, or does their music collection have to exceed a certain number of gigabytes or slabs of vinyl to be in the club (no pun intended)? Audio playback devices are certainly getting more plentiful and powerful on a large scale; anyone who's played with an iOS DJ app can tell you that. In the deeper end of the DJ pool, things aren't expanding at such a frantic pace. But every once in a while a new toy crops up that adds depth and breadth to the way music nerds play back music. Native Instruments' just-released Traktor Kontrol F1 is a blinking slab of rainbow-tinged hardware with an intense devotion to manipulating samples. While boxes from Roland and Akai have been defining genres for decades, this 16-pad add-on takes the sampling game to a new arena. Will DJ's want it? We feel it's safe to say they will. At $279, should they buy it? That question's a little more complicated.